The new Washington State University apple, currently known as WA 64, is smaller than the Cosmic Crisp. It has a lighter orange and pink blush exterior.
Courtesy of Washington State University
Editor’s note: On Monday, Aug. 26, WSU officials decided to delay the name announcement until the end of 2024. A previous version of the story said the new apple would be named this week.
When a contest was announced to name the new apple created by Washington State University, it created a media frenzy.
News of the competition to name the apple — currently known as WA 64 — was picked up by major news outlets across the country in a matter of hours.
That’s according to Jeremy Tamsen, director of innovation and commercialization for WSU’s College of Agricultural, Human and Natural Resource Sciences.
“We received 15,280 submissions to the contest,” Tamsen said.
Although he acknowledged the press was positive for the university, “It caused the contest to become quite a bit more work than any of us had anticipated,” Tamsen said.
WSU’s latest apple, the Cosmic Crisp, first debuted in Seattle grocery stores in 2019. The cross between a Honeycrisp and an Enterprise apple has a tart and sweet flavor with a crisp bite, and its outer coating is mostly deep and scarlet red with tiny specks that look like stars.
But before it was the Cosmic Crisp, the apple was known as WA 38.
After WSU spent five years and more than $10 million marketing the Cosmic Crisp, many people recognize the apple by name.
The Cosmic Crisp is one of the bestselling apple varieties in the U.S. Sales hit $41 million in 2023, according to a WSU press release.
A percentage of those dollars get reinvested into WSU’s apple breeding program. Royalties from sales of apples like WA 38 and WA 64 fund research for new varieties of apples for Washington growers.
That’s why branding is so important when naming a fruit, Tamsen said.
The new apple is a cross between a Honeycrisp apple and a Cripps Pink — also known as a Pink Lady apple. Its skin is speckled with dots like the Cosmic Crisp, but it’s smaller and has more yellow, orange and pink blush on the outside.
The new WA 64 apple growing on trees at a WSU orchard in Quincy, Wash.
Courtesy of Washington State University
The contest to name the apple was a great public relations opportunity, and a way for people to feel included in the branding process, Tamsen said.
“I think people are really going to love this apple, it’s very different from Cosmic Crisp,” he said. “Cosmic Crisp has a really big, hit you in the face sweet tart flavor — this new apple has a sweet tart flavor that is more subtle and more complex.“
After omitting duplicates and even some naughty apple names, several focus groups have whittled the name choices down to the final five.
The winning name will be revealed by the end of the year, says Tamsen. The person who came up with the winning name will receive a special prize: a charcuterie board engraved with the contest-winning name, a box of WA 64 apples, a 30-ounce can of Cougar Gold cheese, spices from the WSU Meat Lab, and a WSU coffee cup and water bottle.
“I’m just really excited for people to be able to taste it and use it in recipes, pack it into school lunches and to serve it on charcuterie boards,” Tamsen said.
Nurseries will start selling budwood for the trees in 2026, and orders for the new apple tree can now be placed with the International New Varieties Network, he said.
The new apple won’t hit stores until 2029.